FTAA MAY AID CARICOM CENTRAL AMERICA TIES

The outcome of Costa Rica’s offer to lobby Central American support for Trinidad and Tobago’s move to become the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Secretariat, should it be successful, would result in its aiding of a deepening of trade and cultural ties between Caricom and Central America.

In turn, it may bear witness to the emergence of the Caribbean Community as a not insubstantial bloc of nations in international affairs. Already, the decision of Caricom to send three missions to Central and South America to lobby the support of countries there has demonstrated an appreciation that the Region acting together has a greater chance of being taken seriously and achieving goals than as individual island States. Costa Rica’s offer, as Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift has pointed out, has been made on the clear understanding that the Caricom bloc would support the candidacy of former Costa Rican President, Dr Miguel Angel Rodriguez, for the post of Secretary General of the Organisation of American States. Gift has tactfully referred to it as a quid pro quo, which means in essence that each is doing it for a consideration — or in local parlance, shorn of diplomacy, in the real world nobody gets something for nothing.

Costa Rica’s Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Carlos Echeverria, who relayed his country’s offer, did not reveal what Costa Rica would be giving other Central Latin American nations in return for their support of TT as FTAA headquarters. This country, however, has offered to assist the Region financially, and in addition is holding discussions on the pricing of Trinidad and Tobago’s natural gas to Caricom member States which amounts to indirect financial assistance. But such arrangements, while they may be seen as self serving by cynics are standard practice in international affairs. It is merely that Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and (other) Caricom countries have been somewhat up front about it. This, however, does not rule out the idea that Caricom nations will see themselves as a bloc to be taken seriously. Of immense significance is that the support of Costa Rica for Trinidad and vice versa and the lobbying that is required may result in both lobbied groups examining what each has to offer in terms of trade as well as culturally.

The English speaking Caribbean Region and the Spanish speaking Latin American countries have been artificially kept apart for too long and for reasons that should long since have been set aside, what with the several English speaking countries having attained Independence — two, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, more than 40 years ago. Admittedly, part of the reasons for the apartness lay in differences of language. The fundamental reasons, however, lay in the old rivalries of the European nations who once held the countries of South and Central America and the Caribbean as colonial possessions. And with unconscious intent, even though many had been opposed to the Imperial rule and colonialism, ironically those colonised whether by the British or the Spaniards by some mental somersault adopted the suspicions of the colonisers with respect each to the other. Regrettably, some of the suspicions are still around.

The establishing of the Association of Caribbean States, however, has helped to foster better understanding and a greater sense of awareness of the possibility of an acceptable level of trading links. In turn, the rallying of Caricom and Central American nations to support positions of Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica should both further this understanding and strengthen intra regional trade. And should both countries as well as both groups achieve what is being sought then, undoubtedly, Knowlson Gift will emerge as one of the best Foreign Ministers, if not the premier Foreign Minister that the Region has produced. Gift’s ability to achieve what clearly is one of the high points in Caricom relations of not merely passive support for Trinidad and Tobago’s candidacy, but active in the sense that he has been able to realise the assembling of three Caricom missions to set out early in the New Year to lobby support for this country’s candidacy, is significant.

Minister Gift, himself an accomplished diplomat, will no doubt in association with Trade and Development Minister, Ken Valley, seek to follow up the discussions of the three Missions with early moves for the deepening of trading links between the Caribbean Community of Nations and South and Central American countries. I wish to state for the record that I still have reservations about the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Nonetheless, what must take centre stage are not my reservations, but the strategies and initiatives being developed and planned, which, if successful, will represent a tacit defeat of the hypocritical and overwhelmingly self serving so-called ‘war on terror’ strategy of the United States. The US, a major player in the FTAA equation is using its ‘war on terror’ strategy as a weapon to effectively reduce potential exports of Caribbean and Latin American countries to it. A merry and safe Christmas to all of my readers and all nationals and residents of Trinidad and Tobago. And as I eat my wife’s fruit cake and sweetbread and drink her sorrel and ginger beer I shall remember you kindly. Once again, a merry and safe Christmas.